Research paper

Magnitude and factors associated with adherence to Iron-folic acid supplementation among pregnant women in Eritrean refugee camps, northern Ethiopia

BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth

Apr 2018

DOI: 10.1186/s12884-018-1716-2

Citations: 76

Influential: 10

Observational Studies (Human)

Study answer

What this study found

Adherence to iron-folic acid supplementation was 64.7% (95% CI 59.7%–70.0%). Independent predictors: lower knowledge about anemia (AOR 0.25; 95% CI 0.14–0.43); not receiving information about the importance of IFA (AOR 0.43; 95% CI 0.25–0.74); four or more ANC visits (AOR 2.83; 95% CI 1.46–5.48). Main non-adherence reasons: side effects (40%), unawareness of importance (30.2%), forgetfulness (14.4%), supply gaps (12.1%), fear of side effects (3.3%). Adherence is relatively low; strategies to improve adherence include counseling on IFA and anemia, ensuring information about its importance,…

Study & population: Mixed-design institution-based cross-sectional study among pregnant Eritrean refugee women in four Shire refugee camps (Shimelba, May-Aini, Adi-Harush, Hitsats) in Northern Ethiopia.
Intervention: Iron-folic acid tablets; dosage not specified; started around 17 weeks gestation; duration during pregnancy; taken daily (oral).
Key limitation: Self-reported adherence may overestimate true adherence; cross-sectional design limits causal inference; not all potential barriers to adherence were explored; knowledge assessment is subjective.

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Original abstract

No abstract is available for this paper.